1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing device, an image processing method and a program, especially the image processing device, the image processing method and the program capable of processing an image processing result according to the purpose of use.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, a digital signage system displaying a video commercial on a display includes a capturing device for capturing a face of a person who is viewing a display, and processes the image on which the face of the person pictured on the image captured by the capturing device is being tracked. Furthermore, based on the image processing result, the digital signage system can calculate a breakdown of viewers (the proportion of males to females or by age bracket) and adjust the contents of a video commercial based on the result of the image processing, or calculate the effects of a commercial by counting the number of viewers per day.
However, when a face being tracked faces to the side with respect to display, in the digital signage system it is difficult to recognize the face, and the tracking is terminated (losing the face). Then, if the same person starts viewing the display, the face is detected as a new face and the tracking resumes. Therefore, the digital signage system counts the same person twice, thereby, the reliability of the calculated result of the commercial effect degrades.
For instance, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-254274, an analyzing apparatus is disclosed which can calculate a highly reliable viewer rating enabling a determination of the effectiveness of a video commercial by comparing the face information and determining if it is that of the same person. Also, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2009-48489, the image processing apparatus capable of determining if a face is that of the same person at a high speed and constant accuracy is disclosed.
Thus, the digital signage system can determine if a face is that of the same person, thereby counting the same person more than once can be avoided.